New guidelines say women who receive COVID-19 vaccine may postpone mammograms soon

MURRAY – New mammography guidelines for women receiving the COVID-19 vaccine were adopted on Tuesday by Intermountain Healthcare and hospitals nationwide.

Doctors have said that the swelling of the vaccine can make it difficult to accurately read mammograms.

The guidelines say women who have recently received the COVID-19 vaccine or are planning to get it soon may want to postpone an upcoming mammogram.

Swollen lymph nodes can cause a poor reading.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that when we do a mammogram we can see these lymph nodes,” said Dr Brett Parkinson, medical director of the Breast Care Center at Intermountain Healthcare.

The medical center now recommends that women over 40 undergo their annual mammograms before getting vaccinated, or delay cancer screening for at least four weeks after their last dose.

Here’s why: When people get the COVID-19 vaccine, their arm swells. “Those who have been vaccinated can attest to that,” Parkinson said.

This swelling also appears in the lymph nodes in the armpit area, usually on the same side as the stroke, which is visible on a mammogram. Usually, they don’t see enlarged lymph nodes unless it’s inflammation or cancer. Recent national research revealed swelling of the lymph nodes in 11% of vaccinees after the first dose and 16% after the second dose.

“So when you have a mammogram right after a COVID vaccine, you may have enlarged lymph nodes,” Parkinson said.

He said they rarely saw enlarged lymph nodes, unless breast cancer had reached the lymph nodes or if it was lymphoma or leukemia.

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So when you have a mammogram right after a COVID vaccine, you can have enlarged lymph nodes … we don’t want patients getting those false positives to have that kind of alarm.

–Dr. Brett Parkinson, Medical Director of the Intermountain Healthcare Breast Care Center

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“We don’t want patients getting these false positives to have this kind of alarm,” Parkinson said. “So we published a set of guidelines for patients to follow.”

The new guidelines are also recommended by the Society of Breast Imaging after swollen lymph nodes were found in mammograms nationwide.

If the lymph node swelling doesn’t go away after four weeks, Parkinson’s said you should get it checked out by a doctor.

“It’s a known side effect,” he said. “Don’t panic when that happens. But if that doesn’t resolve, then come in and be seen and we’ll look at this lymph node specifically.”

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